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Anyone following this blog and our social media outlets must be well aware that our Quranic storytelling film – Solomon and the Queen – has been on the verge of release for the past few weeks. It’s now available for free viewing online! A DVD is also available, ideal as a gift. It comes in

I would like to make a brief comment on this video featuring Dr. Mohammad Akram Nadwi: The learned shaykh has made an important point in this video, but I can only assume that exaggerated words like “Deception” were added to the title by the marketing team! My comment on the argument is this: it is possible

By Sohaib Saeed How did a story that apparently confirmed the antiquity of the Qur’an as we know it, and the broad accuracy of Muslim traditional accounts, turn into weird headlines claiming that the Qur’an might “predate Muhammad” and that the new discoveries may necessitate a complete rethinking of Islamic history? Nothing new actually happened

By Sohaib Saeed This post serves as an introduction to Solomon and the Queen for people who are less familiar with Qur’an recitation, or with the particular style which is exemplified by the reciter, Qari Hajjaj al-Hindawi. The first thing to appreciate is that the Qur’an is a vocal and oral phenomenon, as much as –

By Sohaib Saeed Quranica’s feature film Solomon and the Queen is, first and foremost, a showcase of the beauty of the Qur’an’s message and narrative style, through a masterful recitation by the renowned Egyptian qari, Hajjaj Ramadan al-Hindawi. When we gave him the stage on the last day of his Scotland tour in 2006, we did not

By Sohaib Saeed Just as we are celebrating ten years since the launch of Quranica, it is now nine years since one of our most memorable events. On 13th August 2006, a world-renowned reciter – Sh. Hajjaj Ramadan al-Hindawi – sat down in Edinburgh’s Central Mosque to recite at the end of a whole weekend of

By Sohaib Saeed Anyone who takes on the task of translating the Qur’an (or indeed any lofty and complex literary text) will be faced with innumerable challenges, and throughout the process, he or she will have to make all kinds of choices. On some points, they will diverge widely, and on others, they may agree

Excerpt from Ādāb Tilāwat al-Qurʾān (Book XIII of the first quarter of Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn) Translated by Sohaib Saeed So what of [God’s Messenger (S)] saying, “Whoever explains the Qurʾān by his opinion (raʾy)…” and prohibiting this, and what of the saying of Abū Bakr (R), “Which earth would carry me, and which sky would shade me

By Sohaib Saeed Differing and disagreement… must they result in discord and disunity? Or can they be embraced as divinely-ordained diversity? Before looking at “difference” from a theological perspective, let us philosophise for a moment about the very idea of difference. When you compare two things and decide that they are different, they must be

Watch the first 20 minutes for an explanation of the points below (Article 6 excluded): The following are some principles extracted from Quranic guidance which are pertinent to Muslims living alongside people of different beliefs and practices. The hope is always to go beyond the mere fact of coexistence, to tolerance and acceptance, and beyond

By Sohaib Saeed As a book of guidance for the individual and society, the Qur’an often elaborates on virtues which qualify people as pious, faithful and righteous, and worthy of being “servants of the Merciful”. Among these most beautiful of Quranic passages is one found in Chapter 76, known both as “The Human Being” (al-Insān)

By Sohaib Saeed It may have become something of a cliché that Islam means peace, or is a religion of peace. Yet there is no doubt that the pursuit of peace is a central goal of this life, just as we strive to arrive at the Abode of Peace after we die. When the Prophet

By Sohaib Saeed Anyone with an interest in the philosophy of ethics, or in the common ground between different faiths and cultures, is very likely to be familiar with a dictum known as the “Golden Rule”. Worded in various ways, its straightforward message is to treat other people as you would like to be treated;

By Sohaib Saeed I was interested to read a paper by Scott Lucas entitled “Is the Qur’an Wise? Is God the Outward? Two Exegetical Debates Lost in English Translations of the Qur’an“, in which the author illustrates the disconnect between the multiplicity of interpretations offered by the tafsir tradition, and what translators end up selecting

Click on the image to view a playlist of 10 videos recorded in the Al-Azhar Mosque in June 2013. Sohaib Saeed, graduate of Al-Azhar University and director of Quranica, has introduced the chapters and themes of a seminal book in Quranic studies by the late Sh. Muhammad Abdullah Draz. Feedback is welcome as always.

الأخوة في القرآن الكريم : مفاهيم وموجبات صهيب سعيد الأزهري The above paper in Arabic is an extended study of the theme first explored in my English article, Brotherhood in Faith and Humanity. It was originally an assignment for my final-year class on Thematic Tafsir at Al-Azhar University.

By Sohaib Saeed Originally published by 1st Ethical O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful (ḥalāl) and wholesome (ṭayyib) and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy. (Qur’an 2:168) And eat of what God has provided for you, lawful and wholesome. And fear

By Mohamed Ghilan “If it weren’t for their political problems and constant fighting between each other, the Muslims would have been on the moon by the 1400s.” Such was the statement made by a non-Muslim professor in a 400-level undergraduate class on the history of science. It seems that the rate of discovery and advancement

By Sohaib Saeed Thematic exegesis (al-tafsir al-mawḍū‘i) is an emerging field in Quranic studies, yet it has forerunners in the shapes of “tafsir by the Qur’an itself”, polysemy (wujūh wa naẓā’ir) and collections of “legal verses” (āyāt al-aḥkām), metaphors (majāz al-Qur’ān), abrogation (al-nāsikh wal-mansūkh) and potentially difficult passages (gharīb al-Qur’ān). It has been described as

From the archives: In advance of a Quranica recitation and lecture tour featuring various reciters as well as Dr Kristina Nelson (author of The Art of Reciting the Qur’an), Sohaib Saeed appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme on 26th February 2006 to explain the phenomenon of Quranic recitation. Listen here: Also read: The Art

From The Story of Faith: Between Philosophy, Science and the Qur’an – by Nadīm al-Jisr This fascinating and enigmatic book takes the reader on a journey along with its protagonist, Ḥayrān ibn al-Aḍ‘af the Punjabi, through the storms of doubt to the shores of certainty, at the hands of a wise scholar by the name of

By Sohaib Saeed The translation of the Arabic Qur’an into the languages of the world has received the broad acceptance of Muslim scholars since the middle of last century, though the practice of translating the whole Qur’an extends back to the sixteenth century or earlier. The original missionary goals were replaced by academic research and

By Sohaib Saeed The significance of a concept in the Islamic worldview can be grasped by surveying its occurrence in the Qur’an, the peak of divine revelation and the fount of knowledge and guidance. One aspect of such study is to follow the appearance of a certain word in its various contexts, extracting lessons and

By Sohaib Saeed It is a common practice of Muslim scholars writing on some field of knowledge to define its basic terms; when it comes to Arabic words, this involves looking at their root meanings as well as their usage. This practice is certainly useful when seeking to understand Islam as a faith and way

From the writings of the former Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Shaykh Muhammad Sayyid al-Tantawi (may Allah have mercy upon him), author of Al-Tafseer al-Waseet: It happened in the Prophetic Era that a man named Ta’mah ibn Abreeq stole a shield from one of his neighbours called Qatadah ibn Nu’man, then stashed it at the home

In February 2007, Quranica director Sohaib Saeed participated in a Beyond Belief discussion on BBC Radio 4 about music and its relation to spiritual experience, speaking as a promoter of the art of Qur’anic recitation. Listen here: Beyond Belief > Music & Spiritual Experience The other panellists were Rabbi Mark Solomon of the Liberal Jewish

The author – Shaykh Dr. Ḥasan Maḥmūd ‘Abd al-Laṭīf al-Shāfi‘ī – is a leading authority on Islamic theology, philosophy and spirituality. He is a lecturer at Dar al-‘Ulūm, University of Cairo, and one of the senior scholars of Al-Azhar. In addition to studies in his native Egypt, he received a doctorate from the University of

By Sohaib Saeed The Qur’an has many names, as mentioned throughout its chapters and verses. Two are considered the most important. It is described as the Kitāb meaning “book”, and as the Qur’ān meaning “recital”. The fact that these are the two names for the divine revelation received by Muhammad, believed by Muslims to be